superkix

Burton's haircut is very sick. He throws Takayama around with waterwheel drops and double arm suplexes. He uses a side buster to counter an armbar takedown. The stuff on the ground is a mess but whatever, you can't expect much else from Burton. Takayama wasn't great here either.. He totally whiffs on a flying knee but finally taps Tom with a rear armbar. Meh.

Yeah, this was a blast, with Abe being the real standout as previously mentioned. Him punching Okabayashi from the apron and pissing him off was great. Abe strutting around vs. Yuji, stumbling over to Hashimoto's corner and slapping everyone. When Hash is working the shithead role, it works well - his strikes looked good. Sato was there for some sleazy punishment, Kamitani was trying to pump everyone up, Nomura was blasting everyone with kicks. At one point, Kamitani is eating kick after kick from Sato, and then tries to backdrop him, only to get punched int he head. The Abe/Nomura double teams looked nasty, and then Sato's finishing combo with the nasty headbutt>elbow>piledriver. I love these six-mans - so much fun.

This absolutely lived up to the hype and personal expectations, as the build to this moment had been phenomenal and really set the stage for this singles encounter. This was a true "coming of age" performance from Nomura, where he didn't look like the cutesy little ass-kicker but a legit bulked up threat to Okabayashi's title reign. His transitions and groundwork have improved a lot and his kicks only continue to get more precise and sharper. The story was obvious going into this match, with Nomura targeting the bandaged left arm, and everything surrounding that storied ruled. I feel like Okabayashi is still so underrated when it comes to being one of the absolute best at what he does and his selling in this match was so so good, and it played into his offense. The spear being almost ineffective, the way Nomura is able to crucifix Yuji's Argentine backbreaker and turn it into the manjigatame, and the apron spot, with Yuji countering the armbreakers with a sleeper and Nomura biting the arm to break it off. Of course, the blows they trade throughout are gnarly - Yuji turns Nomura's chest into pepperoni pizza with chops very early on and the way he clocks Nomura's head around with some of those open-hand slaps were scary. The simple offense felt huge -- Yuji's superduperplex or the nearfall off Nomura's German suplex hold, for example. The violence escalates into a nasty final showdown and this is where Nomura "the man" really shined. Loved his slaps turning into desperate punches and that last fireman's carry>armbar counter to Okabayashi's lariat. OKabayshi wins in dominant fashion, as he should, but he really struggled to get there and only used that injured arm when he had to, which played into the finish with him stripping the bandage. No overkill, perfect build and match length. An easy MOTYC and my current #1. Prior to his injury, Okabayashi was pulling out these awesome top list performances yearly (vs. Hideki Suzuki in 2017; vs. Hideyoshi Kamitani in 2016) and I'm so happy to see him back in top form for 2019.

This was fun. Suzuki transitioning into Fujiwara is an obvious route but a perfect one at his age -- the rear armbar and STF takedown and set-ups were slick. TAKA, of course, signing his own death certificate with the smack to the back of Suzuki's head and then Suzuki destroying with elbows after mocking TAKA's failed elbow attempts. We get some fun scrambles toward the end before Suzuki stretches the leg and taps him with a neat leglock.

Hart>Flair Kawada>Okada Misawa>Kobashi Danielson>Tsuruta Taue>Tanahashi

Random time limit draws are hard to pull off but somewhere in here is a great 15:00 or 20:00 match. I like Shiozaki a lot but I don't know if he was the right guy to have a 30:00 draw with Hideki Suzuki. That being said, Hideki worked this match very differently than previous draws against guys like Daisuke Sekimoto. One of the biggest criticisms I've seen of Hideki is his lack of selling but here, especially in the final minutes with him taking all those elbow shots to the dead, his selling was phenomenal. The match was a series of cool moments but the bigger match was slow and clunky, with a lot of start-stop momentum. While I love Hideki picking apart a limb, it dragged things out. The apron spot looked bad, the outside brawling was whatever, and the actual draw was very flat. BUT, like I said, there were a lot of cool moments. Suzuki holding onto the cravate on the sloop slam, him going nuts on Shiozaki's arm at one point, the chops in the corner and Shiozaki chopping him in the fucking face. And the final few minutes leading up to the draw were very good. The way Hideki would cheapshot a previously targeted limb to catch a breath. His sick backdrop hold. The way he sells Go's elbows and tries to retaliate with this limp, collapsing elbow was so good. I loved the dragon suplex counter to the rolling elbow. That nearfall would have been the perfect way to end the match on a draw. But then we get another slow down with the sleeper and a botched armbar spot and then it just ends. A shorter rematch would be ideal.

I liked it more than my review sounds. There were a lot of neat little nuances throughout with Tamura's coolness backfiring, Ito's big underdog performance, and I loved the final few minutes of the match with Tamura on the rocks.

This had a decent story to it, with Kanehara going after Takayama's leg and Takayama really trying to submit him with the crab holds. Lots of kicks early on -- a few knees and slaps but mostly kicks. Takayama definitely has the size advantage here, so it's funny watching Kanehara try to climb aboard with a submission attempt. Good selling from both guys here - at one point, Takayama tries for a German but his leg gives out. Eventually, he's able to hit the German and he keeps trying the crab hold, with Kanehara really selling the lower back. He's not able to take him down and Takayama finally taps him with the crab. Sloppy but again, pretty fun.

This may be the best match on the show, which isn't saying a whole lot, but boy, they get real handsy to open. I love the chaotic exchanges, with Cairo not holding much back. Lydick completely no sells Cairo's double arm suplex. The groundwork is whatever and by the end of it, Cairo is spent. But the energy, while it lasts, is fun. Lydick goes for an armbar, spiking Cairo on the takedown, and when that doesn't work, he DESTROYS him with a German suplex. And when THAT doesn't work, he hits another German suplex into the armbar for the win.

Two bland white dudes going at it - I mean, to his credit, Burton throws a nice double arm suplex. And Bobchick manages a few decent takedowns and transitions. But there's not much substance here. Burton has shitty kicks but catches Bobchick with a dirty knee strike. In the end, Bobchick hits the German into a an ugly choke hold for the submission. Bleh.

Silver's the bigger guy here and he throws Sakuraba with a few suplexes early on but Sakuraba's still slicker and quicker. He's able to suplex Silver down and tries to climb on with a sleeper but they're in the ropes. He doesn't come off as very confident or at least, he's really holding back against Silver. At one point, Silver catches him with an inadvertent kick to the face and his follow-up takedown into the choke looked pretty brutal. He hits a big ROCK BOTTOM to set-up the rear naked choke, submitting Saku in a very sloppy but sorta fun match-up.

Hey, I decided to watch another U-Style show and I thought this one was a lot of fun from top to bottom. U-STYLE (8/18/04) Manabu Hara vs. Rocky Romero Hara controlled much of this match and Rocky doesn't really do a whole lot apart from trying to grab the manjigatame a few times. But it was still pretty fun. Hara did some cool stuff like the shoot snap suplex into the head-and-shoulder lock and his transition into the single leg crab was very slick. The midmatch spat of violent kicks and slaps was good stuff, and Hara earns himself a yellow card for kicking Romero while he's down. Rocky trying to goad Hara to the mat and Hara trying to get the crowd to boo him was also a nice touch. The back-and-forth struggle for leg control was solid, with Rocky coming out of it with a grounded full nelson. Then it shifts into pro-rasslin territory with Romero's enziguri into the flying armbar. Rocky survives two German suplexes and they go back to the strikes to finish it out as the time expires at 15:00. Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Ryuki Ueyama Baby-faced Nakajima comes out with some big flourishes but doesn't connect and instead, Ueyama just taunts him with a bunch of little slaps and body punches. A kneebar and rear choke nearly do the trick but Nakajima escapes and finally connects with a big head kick to Ueyama, followed by a flying kick in the ropes. But Ueyama's back it with the slaps and Nakajima can't quite keep the momentum going. Nakajima fights for and delivers a German suplex but Ueyama's immediately back on his feet and high kicks Nakajima a bunch of times in the head for the KO. Nakajima tried. Yuki Ishikawa vs. Crafter M Oh hey, it's my favorite dirty barefoot, trashbag pants, Rey Mysterio-knock off mask wearin' shooter gimmick, Crafter M...against one of my other favorite wrestlers in Yuki Ishikawa. The juxtaposition of Crafter floating all over Yuki grabbing holds and Yuki getting more and more frustrated with it and finally trying to snap Crafter in half was an excellent story. Truth be told, Crafter is very good and he just slips out of Ishikawa's fingers and quickly snags a number of holds -- his roll-up choke was very swanky. He's just making Ishikawa work extra hard to find leverage. Of course, Ishikawa's grittier approach was a nice counterbalance and him working the STF was great. Ishikawa slapping Crafter M into a heel hook was a cool spot. Ishikawa finally dumps him with a German suplex and grabs the Fujiwara armbar, and when that doesn't work, he tries to bed M in two and M taps. Great match-up. Alexander Otsuka vs. Masahito Kakihara This match is the semi-final match in a short tournament to crown the new U-Style champ... and unfortunately, Kaki injured himself kicking Otsuka in the elbow so the match is called off. Otsuka advances by forfeit. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Hiroyuki Ito This is the other semi-final pairing and Ito doesn't hold back against Tamura. He absolutely rocks him with big nasty kicks and knee strikes. Not only that but Ito also sends him to the ropes a few times as he goes after the arm. Tamura's strategy seems to be catch a kick>grab the submission and it works a couple of times but Ito continues to knock him down with big strikes and Tamura's ultimately down to his final point. He tries but can't qyite finish off Ito with strikes and by the end, they're both staggering and Tamura even gets caught in the ropes with a missed kick attempt. He's finally able to catch a kick and tap Ito with the single leg crab to advance. Solid match. Kensuke Sasaki vs. Kyosuke Sasaki Look, Kensuke can't find a hold to save his life but it doesn't matter - this match was a blast, as Kensuke relies on his power and throws and clubbing forearms, with little to no finesse, while Sasaki's trying to be crafty and pull off the submission victory. At one point, he even tries for a shoot scorpion deathlock, which rules, but Sasaki is overpowering. Kensuke plants him with a shooter fisherman buster, blasts him with forearms, chops him, and when Kyosuke whiffs on a flying armbar, Kensuke powerbombs him. In the end, he destroys him with the lariat and taps him with his strangle hold. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Alexander Otsuka A very good match in which an injured Otsuka is really trying to suplex Tamura but Tamura won't let him, which forces Otsuka to work extra hard on the mat. Immediately Tamura goes after that right elbow with kicks for a knockdown but on the mat, Otsuka more than holds his own in their exchanges, even with the bad elbow. His counter into the STF was very cool, and I loved watching them fight for control. Tamura realizes that kicking the elbow is a good thing so he goes back to it, with Otsuka trying to protect himself, finally tossing Tamura with a waterwheel drop. But Tamura keeps attacking with kicks and in desperation, Otsuka dropkicks him off...but Tamura's like a shark and kicks him once again in the elbow and then the face for the KO. New champ. Good stuff.

House show-level effort but still not a bad match at all between these two rivals. It takes awhile to get going but we get the usual spots - the German suplex by Yamazaki countered into the double wristlock, and then Yamazaki taking a page out of Takada's book and grabbing the arm off a backdrop. Takada attempts a terrible flying armbar and fails. On a personal level, I love Yamazaki's fish flop when Takada grabs the jujigatame. In the end, Takada heel kicks Yamazaki in the face, grabs a heel hold and doesn't let him go until Yamazaki taps.

Up there with Sano/Kakihara for MOTN - I mean, how can you go wrong with a suplex-heavy sprint? Within the first five seconds, Gary hits a belly-to-belly. Of course, he hits the German and the dragon to ultimately win via KO but Dennis gets in there with a very nice judo throw and gutwrench suplex. Not much in terms of groundwork - Dennis manages a head-and-arm lock off the judo throw and Gary applies the grounded full nelson off the German. But come on, you're not here to watch Gary Albright work submissions. Fun sprint!

Underwhelming to say the least. Tamura's got the speed advantage, as he's always able to find his way on top or on his feet, out of Severn's POWER ZONE. Severn has plenty of suplex throws but he looks completely lost on the mat. At times, it looks like he's just trying to hang on to Tamura but it's a struggle when he's struggling to find an actual hold. His shoot spinebuster into the head-and-arm lock was very cool but the match drags on and Severn's burnt out by the end of it. Tamura's all over him in the final minutes, taking him to the ropes several times, until Dan's finally frustrated and wins with his can opener hold. Not bad, not very good. Just there.

Maybe the MOTN? I don't know - it's got Kaki showing no respect for Sano at the outset and immediately taking him down with his barrage of slaps. He utilizes some great suplexes, including a front necklock suplex, but can't quite get anything going on the mat, as Sano's able to slip out into armbars and single leg crabs. Sano's able to hit his own front chancery suplex, working his way into the rear choke, and I loved his sneak in overhead suplex, avoiding Kaki's slaps. Sano wins it with the German suplex into the armbar. A fun sprint!

Surprise surprise, Allen's match is the worst on the card. Other than his judo throw, he's got almost nothing going for him. Miyato landing that debilitating solebutt to the gut was funny but Allen ultimately wins it with another judo throw into an armbar. Snooze.

As is the case with the majority of UWFi tags, there are some cool spots throughout but it's sloppy and there is like zero cohesion to the match itself. The best parts of this tag are the exchanges between Anjoh/Nakano. Burton is still not very good - although he does bust out a double wristlock takedown - what a trip! And Lydick looked very lost in there, even scared when up against Anjoh. As for the highlights, Anjoh's kneebar counter to Nakano's choke attempt, Nakano's snap suplex and nasty running knee to Anjoh, and Anjoh's uranage into the armbar. There are random suplexes throughout, which only add to it, and finally, Nakano counters Burton's powerbomb attempt with the Fujiwara armbar. Neat enough finish to an otherwise okay tag match.

Not very good at all. I guess Fleming has kind of a fun bulldog energy about him and he's decent enough with the suplexes. But he's absolutely clueless on the mat and wins with a terrible STF. Takayama, on the other hand, always slangs the hard open hands and knees, and the transition into his own STF was very swank. Other than that, pass.

Solid opener with a good showing from Day. There's a franticness to the match, which I always enjoy, with Day using a number of arm whip takedowns to set up the finishing armbar and supplementing them with various suplex throws. At one point, Kanehara lands on his own damn neck with a waterwheel drop but other than that, he doesn't get too much offense in before Day German suplexes him and finally taps him following a final arm whip>armbar combo.

Here we go - the best of RINGS '96! Akira Maeda vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS, 1/24/96) Probably Maeda's last good match. Nowhere near the level of the 12/16/94 match but still a lot of fun, with Yamamoto being the aggressor and Maeda going after the leg with less and less energy as the match progresses. Yamamoto earns himself a yellow card when he went for a kick or knee to the grounded Maeda. While Yamamoto's able to escape Maeda's submission attempts, by the end of it, he's shot and Maeda just has to hold on long enough for the submission. Some nasty hands from Yamamoto to down Maeda but he couldn't quite finish him off on the mat. Good stuff. Mitsuya Nagai vs. Mikhail Ilioukhine (RINGS, 3/25/96) The crowd loves Nagai. I love Nagai. He's scrappy as fuck and he's able to survive and squeeze out submission attempts between the random heavy strikes. Mikhail is a good submission aggressor and gets a few neat attempts, like the early shoot STF or stepover armbar. But Nagai is just a pain in the ass with his leg kicks and palm thrusts. Low kicks, mid kicks, high kicks - Nagai doesn't let up but Mikhail keeps trying to slam and submit. The slams are mostly fails and while the submissions look good, Nagai is too pesky. I just wanted a Mikhail powerbomb, which I thought was happening for half a second...but then Nagai keeps popping him in the face with shoteis and finally busts his nose open for the KO. Best match of an otherwise underwhelming card. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS, 4/26/96) At this point, Yamamoto is positioned as the successor to Maeda and TK has been working his way up the ranks. The frantic, back-and-forth scramble and struggle on the mat early on was excellent, and then Yamamoto takes the advantage in terms of successfully grabbing holds and forcing TK to react. Or, you know, slapping the shit out of him. TK turns this around with a beautiful takedown into the calf slicer and then he turns the pressure on Yamamoto with the holds and knee strikes. Good peppering of stand-up strikes throughout to supplement the solid groundwork. The final couple of minutes are sluggish but Yamamoto's able to use the double leg takedown into the heelhook to tap TK. Great match.  Volk Han vs. Nikolai Zouev (RINGS, 4/26/96) Love this match-up. Han continues his more aggressive approach, coming out of the gate with knees to Zouev. But when it comes to the submissions, it's largely a stalemate and the struggle for position throughout is exactly what you'd expect from two submission masters. Zouev is quick to grab the ropes whenever Han snaps something off, and vice versa. At one point, Zouev turns up the heat and you don't see Han scramble often but he does here. Zoeuv's shoot snap suplex was cool and his leg scissors into the kneebar was a thing of beauty. Of course, Han pulls out the leg extension leglock, the single leg>STF>sleeper combo, the general octopus defense and offense. In the end, Zouev is able to block the hammerlock takedown and turn Han's attempt into a modified wakigatame for the big tap out. Great stuff as usual from these two. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs. Mikhail Ilioukhine (RINGS, 5/25/96) Mikhail is wilding out with the kicks and airplane spins and single leg crabs and big open hand slaps, and the Russian crowd is loving every minute of it. He throws TK with a belly-to-belly into a neck crank and TK is trying to get something going, throwing knees, grabbing holds, but Mikhail blows right through them. At one point, he's clearly just showing off, trying to deadlift TK off the mat. Mikhail pummels TK with palm strikes for a knockdown but TK is quick to pop up and drops Mikhail with a pretty sick uranage. Good back-and-forth struggle toward the end, although Mikhail stays aggressive throughout with the strikes and straight armbar attempts. But TK ends up tapping him with the rear choke. Good stuff. Masayuki Naruse vs. Todor Todorov (RINGS, 6/29/96) The returning Naruse has got a hot crowd behind him and boy, do they both swing for the fences throughout this match-up. Tons of strikes, some great suplex takedowns, and good groundwork as Naruse tries to re-assert himself back in the landscape. Early on, Naruse snags the heel and doesn't let go as Todorov tries to squirm his way out of it and eventually has to roll over for a rope break. Some sweet takedowns, like the chickenwing from Todorov and the flying armbar from naruse. Todorov also delivers a pretty dope armtrap suplex. At one point, poor Todorov gets dick punched and then eats some nasty shoteis but he fires back with knees and kicks. But Naruse is relentless with his strikes and after Todorov seemingly expels his last energy with a semi-powerslam, Naruse takes him to the corner and pummels him until he gets the KO. Great stuff. Volk Han vs. Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS, 6/29/96) While not at the level of their 1993 match, I enjoyed this more than the 1994 match. Nagai delivers yet another top-notch underdog performance and nearly has you (the viewer) convinced that he can beat Han at his own game...or via strikes, which he stuns Han with on a number of occasions. Han goes from his standing leglock to the single leg crab but Nagai counters with the heel hook, albeit briefly, before Han regains control and slaps on a neat cross heel hook. Loved him pulling Nagai down with the rear choke...only for Nagai to fight his way and send Han reeling after the ropes with a modified leglock. Han utilizing the full nelson hold with the legs for added leverage is another key Volk Han characteristic. Great armbar transition out of Nagai's rear waistlock and the finish was great, where you've got Nagai trying to transition his hold into something fancy and Han turning around, looking at him, grabbing the choke and tapping him. Enough playtime. Terrific match. Masayuki Naruse vs. Sergei Sousserov (RINGS, 7/16/96) Sousserov is spin kicks and suplexes, which he quickly re-establishes within the first minute of this match. He comes off as this big Russian brute, strong right out of the gate, but as the match progresses, his offense usually falls apart with weak takedowns and plenty of whiffed spin kicks. It didn't necessarily happen here - although he whiffed earlier rather than later - and he gor some cool late game takedowns, including a dope German-style uranage. This definitely had more of the pro-wres feel to it, with Naruse playing the scrappy doo, hanging onto Sergei's neck with chokes as Sousserov continually tries to spin him off to no avail. At one point, Naruse hits a SHOOT DRAGON SCREW to set up the heel hook>single leg crab finish. Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Willie Peeters (RINGS, 7/16/96) This was Willie Peeters' best performance since 1992 (the '95 Nagai match was pretty good too) but basically, it's Peeters as his shitty best, throwing full rotation suplexes and being aggressive with the strikes. Tamura almost looks lost in there at times as he tries to get stuff going on the mat but Peeters is always near the ropes. Loved Willie's shit-eating grin when Tamura tells the referee to count him down on a missed kick attempt. Of coruse, Willie mocks Tamura's kicks and it becomes clear that Tamura really wants to submit him. Peeters wants none of ti, taps even after he manages an escape, and finally gives up the ghost to a triangle. Volk Han vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (RINGS, 7/16/96) Tons of compelling matwork, with each trying to pretzel the other and win out on the ground. But the strikes added something visceral to the match, especially that final catfight flurry from Han in the corner with the palm shots and knees that end up busting TK open and winning Han the match. We've already established that Han is a master of unique holds and transitions and reversals, as showcased in this match -- I mean, his hammerlocked necklock is so cool. But TK has answers for him and Han has to go to the ropes more times than he's usually used to. Neat rolling necklock from TK and toward the end, he keeps going back to the choke, since Han would turn any leg submission attempt against him. Great stuff. Masayuki Naruse vs. Egan Inoue (RINGS, 8/24/96) The last thirty seconds of this match are worth the price of admission alone. Things are slow going initially, as they test the waters with kicks, which leads to some messy scrambling and some hesitancy on Inoue’s part, having never worked a “worked” match before. But after Egan takes a shot to the eye, he comes back into this match SUPER pissy and the chaos of the final strike exchanges is awesome. Tons of nasty knees and palm strikes, especially from Naruse, and then Egan gets himself disqualified by pounding a grounded Naruse with body shots. Fun stuff. Volk Han vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (RINGS, 8/24/96) Yup, this one ruled, right from the opening. TK's initial counter to Han's armwhip takedown was the chef's kiss and then Han is like, okay, let me fuck with the leg now, to which TK works his way into control and we're presented this great sequence of them vying for control. Beautiful counter submission wrestling and if that's your thing, welcome. Han is just so good at adapting to his opponent's movements and escape attempts. He'll snap off an armbar but if there is too much squirming, he'll shift his attention to the leg. Love TK's rolling necklock and there's a great moment where Han tries his "step on the foot" extension leglock but gets caught off guard with a heel hook. They pretzel each other with hold, twisting and twerking limbs to try and gain the advantage. Han dragging TK down with the choke was great but then, of course, TK turns the tables with the leglock and sends Han scrambling for the ropes. Beautiful arm takedown into the hammerlock by Volk and he does such a good job of preventing the escape…although it happens, barely. The end was great - Han with the little cat slaps and again another armlock takedown but when TK counters with the kneecrusher, Han is like "shit, I just need to grab the arm and bend it to win." And he does it. Awesome match. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka vs. Mitsuya Nagai (RINGS, 9/25/96) Nagai was very aggressive throughout, battering TK with nasty head kicks and face palms and knee strikes in the corners. TK's trying to find a way to the mat, where he excels, and at one point, he usues a quasi-capture suplex but Nagai continues dominating up top, targeting TK's midsection and popping him in the head with more palsm and knees. TK manages a nice scissors takedown into the kneebar, a front necklock, and some slick maneuvering to set up the armbar, but Nagai manages to escape each attempt, finally kneeing TK for the KO. TK's poor gut couldn't take it anymore. Volk Han vs. Kiyoshi Tamura (RINGS, 9/25/96) Incredible. The two of them slip slidin' in and out of submission attempts, the drama built around the escapes and counters, Han's usual attempts being thwarted by the younger, quicker Tamura. I mean, right out of the gate, you've got Han carrying Tamura around in a hammerlock before he throws him down and the scramble begins. Loved Han slipping under the kicks to grab the choke and drag Tamura down, only for Tamura to snag a heel hook to force the break. Han's armbar out of the knee crusher attempt was so slick but Tamura doesn't let it breath and fights his way into his own armbar. Tamura's straight kick to the gut ruled. By the end of it, they're both fairly exhausted and missing their executions, and Han seems fed up when he starts peppering Tamura with face palms and knees. Great finish too, with Tamura's last choke effort and Han extending the arm with the double wristlock for the win. What a match. Todor Todorov vs. Gogitidze Bakouri (RINGS, 10/25/96) Bakouri rules. He throws Todorov with a great suplex early on and follows that up with a big Karelin lift. The ground stuff in this match is whatever but when they're throwing slaps and throws, it's a lot of fun. Poor Todor gets kneed in the nuts but Bakouri is sorry, it's all good. Todorov's gut punch > armbar takedown was pretty cool and rhe finish was neat, with Bakouri hitting a necklock suplex and holding on for the submission. Volk Han vs. Masayuki Naruse (RINGS, 10/25/96) One of Naruse's best RINGS performances thus far and another feather in Volk Han's ushanka. So many cool moments throughout. There's a really great counter-for-counter exchange in the first minute - loved when Naruse tries to set up the STF and Han says "nuh-huh" and grabs the arm. And then Naruse straight punches Han in the gut, which is, of course, Han's kryptonite. You've got Naruse's 2019-esque flipout of the armbar, which was unexpected, and then Han immediately throws him over his shoulder with a gnarly looking hip throw into the leglock. Han's inverted STF is always a thing of beauty and the hammerlock>hammerlock suplex>rear necklock. There's a great spot where Han has Naruse in an armbar and he's using his feet to keep Naruse from escaping. Naruse gets some neat offense in - I liked his gator roll and him blasting Han with the palm strike and rolling backhand. A fed up Han flipping him over the ropes was another great moment, which leads to the back-and-forth finish before Han traps him within inches from the ropes...and Naruse passes out. Terrific match. Volk Han vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (RINGS, 11/22/96) Much more aggressive than their previous match-up, with TK breaking out the nifty counters - the shoot-Exploder to escape the straight armbar and later the belly-to-back throw. Of course, they both pull off some impressive submissions - I liked TK's ankle hold and how he maintains it through Han's struggles. And Han's kneebar transition was a thing of a beauty, fluid like water. Also the small moments flesh this thing out, like Han punching the hands to try and break off the jujigatame, and TK's kryptonite gut punch. Han keeps going for the double wristlock but TK's able to escape each attempt, which leads to the final submission struggle and Han being able to get the extension on the arm for the tap out. Great stuff! Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Yoshihisa Yamamoto (RINGS, 12/19/96) Yamamoto has a major chip on his shoulder. He was the golden boy of RINGS pre-Tamura but post-Tamura, he's been losing all his matches, he's fed up and he takes that frustration out on Tamura. I mean, Tamura is just trying to survive and not get choked out. The opening is intense, with Yamamoto palm striking the hell out of Tamura, pelting him in the corners, with Tamura trying to grab something to take him down but Yamamoto is way too aggro. Tamura manages a few cool takedowns, including a beautiful kneebar counter, while Yamamoto keeps trying to climb on with his backpack choke. I thought some of the grounded sections of the match were sluggish - maybe they were just resting in between all the striking. At one point, Tamura rocks Yamamoto with some nasty slaps and somewhere in the mix, Tamura's nose gets busted open. The finish, with Tamura looking battering but then pulling out the beautiful flying armbar with that extension for the immediate tap out. Chef's kiss. Very good stuff overall.

Yamamoto has a major chip on his shoulder. He was the golden boy of RINGS pre-Tamura but post-Tamura, he's been losing all his matches, he's fed up and he takes that frustration out on Tamura. I mean, Tamura is just trying to survive and not get choked out. The opening is intense, with Yamamoto palm striking the hell out of Tamura, pelting him in the corners, with Tamura trying to grab something to take him down but Yamamoto is way too aggro. Tamura manages a few cool takedowns, including a beautiful kneebar counter, while Yamamoto keeps trying to climb on with his backpack choke. I thought some of the grounded sections of the match were sluggish - maybe they were just resting in between all the striking. At one point, Tamura rocks Yamamoto with some nasty slaps and somewhere in the mix, Tamura's nose gets busted open. The finish, with Tamura looking battering but then pulling out the beautiful flying armbar with that extension for the immediate tap out. Chef's kiss. Very good stuff overall.

What an idiot.

Kind of scatterbrained but with the underlying theme of Takeshita working the neck/back, which Endo sold relatively well at points - the failed torture rack was a nice touch and he bumps like hell. Takeshita is just so good - so crisp, so innovative. Every time I see him, he incorporates new things into the match. Simple things, like the way he hooks the leg off a leg scissors kip up. And he has one of the best modern leg lariats I've seen, the way he hooks it on Endo's neck as he continues working it over. Endo on offense is whatever - he doesn't bring a whole lot that draws me in. But Takeshita's Blue Thunder backbreaker to put him back in the driver's seat was very cool. We get some nasty apron spots and I liked Takeshita opting not to kick Endo's face in the corner but instead, grabs him and piledrives him. In the final minutes, Endo's got the crowd behind him and Takeshita's surviving everything he's dishing out. It definitely shifted into overkill territory with all the Canadian Destroyers but Takeshita tapping him with the Liontamer was the perfect way to payoff all that backwork. I think I liked parts of the match more than the match itself but it was still one of the better EPIC-style match-ups I've seen this year.

Uh, yeah, this ruled. Much more aggressive than their previous match-up, with TK breaking out the nifty counters - the shoot-Exploder to escape the straight armbar and later the belly-to-back throw. Of course, they both pull off some impressive submissions - I liked TK's ankle hold and how he maintains it through Han's struggles. And Han's kneebar transition was a thing of a beauty, fluid like water. Also the small moments flesh this thing out, like Han punching the hands to try and break off the jujigatame, and TK's kryptonite gut punch. Han keeps going for the double wristlock but TK's able to escape each attempt, which leads to the final submission struggle and Han being able to get the extension on the arm for the tap out. Great stuff!